


Nightmares

by Kaddppa



Category: Half-Life, Portal (Video Game)
Genre: Anyway nightmares suck and Chell and Doug are best friends, description of injury at the start but nothing major, goes with my au thing where Doug and Chell escape at the end of portal 1 and end up at white forest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2021-01-13 04:22:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21238082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaddppa/pseuds/Kaddppa
Summary: A dream, it had been a sick and twisted dream, one his tired and traumatized mind had put together just for him.





	Nightmares

He watched as the turret finally hit its mark.  
She’d moved too slowly, or hadn’t been quite aware of how close the guns actually were, but for whatever reason, she’d been hit.

Chell fell, gasping for air, hands grasping at her chest, pulling at the shirt around the wound as blood pooled around her.

Doug watched in horror as she lay on the floor, she choked and wheezed as blood trickled down her chin.

It had been a long, long time since Doug had last taken his medicine.  
He hoped, desperately, that this was nothing but a horrific hallucination, tormenting his mind and shaking his core.

Chell coughed, blood bubbling from her mouth as she lay on the cold, unforgiving ground.

Then Doug jolted awake with a cry, gasping for air and kicking off his blanket, the fabric felt much too constricting.

A dream, it had been a sick and twisted dream, one his tired and traumatized mind had put together just for him.

Doug gagged, his stomach felt hot and he felt bile rise in the back of his throat, he scrambled to the edge of the cot and hung his head in preparation.  
He stared at the dirty concrete floor, tracing the cracks with his eyes in a desperate attempt to distract himself.

Doug stayed in that position for a few more minutes, trying to steady his breathing and tell the difference between the sweat and tears dripping from his face.

With a soft grunt he pushed himself back onto his bed, he scrubbed at his face with the sleeve and brushed his damp hair off of his forehead.

It wasn’t the first time since arriving at White Forest that Doug had had nightmares, sometimes they were stupid little things, like being trapped in one of the vents back in Aperture, not able to get out and not able to breathe, those kinds of dreams were easy to deal with.

But the dreams where it all went so horribly wrong were harder.

Pushing a shaky breath through his teeth, Doug looked up at the ceiling, patches of peeling paint decorated it like murals on a wall.

He knew fully well that Chell was fine, she was probably fast asleep in her own room down the hall, alive and well, not hurt in any way.

Doug lay still for a moment more, contemplating, before he swung his legs over the edge of his cot, wincing as his feet made contact with the cold floor, he pulled his blanket with him as he stood up, wrapping it around his shoulders like a shawl in an attempt to keep warm.

His door creaked loudly as it opened, the sound echoing through the empty halls, he hoped it was only heard by himself, and whoever was on guard duty tonight.

Doug padded down the hall, the cold air nipping at his skin, the fact that his breath couldn’t be seen was surprising.

Every noise he heard put him on edge, the soft murmur of the night guards in conversation, the groan and creak of the old pipes running through the walls, once even a sigh he hadn’t known he was doing until he heard it.

He spotted her door up ahead and picked up his pace a little, relief already creeping into his chest.

A soft light spilled out from under the door, she must’ve been awake, Doug stared down at the light for a moment, before he brought his fist up and knocked softly against the door.

He waited, but no reply came, not that he really expected one, Chell liked to keep quiet, only really speaking if absolutely necessary, he really just knocked out of politeness.

Doug turned the handle, pushing the door open slowly, peeking inside first before opening it the rest of the way.

He saw Chell, sitting on the end of her bed, the dim light from the bedside lamp keeping her face mostly in shadow.

Doug closed the door softly behind him before making his way over to her, “Hi,” he said softly.

Chell looked up at him, her expression was hard, brows furrowed, she had one leg up so that her foot was resting on her thigh, she was tracing the fresh scars on her knee where the Aperture Science Knee Replacements had been attached, one of the medics had removed them when they had first arrived.

She nodded as a greeting, face softening when she made eye contact with him.

Doug immediately felt better. Of course, she was okay, but his mind had a way of playing tricks on him, he had to be sure.

This had happened quite a few times now, sometimes it was him that would come to her room after a particularly bad dream, other times she’d come to his.

Chell moved her leg down and scooted across so that there was enough room for the two of them on the end of the small bed, and Doug quickly moved over, making himself comfortable beside her.

He lifted the blanket from one of his shoulders, offering a space in the warmth to Chell, who accepted with a soft word of thanks.

The two sat, shoulder to shoulder, wrapped in the soft blanket on a chilly night, taking comfort in each other's presence.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry this was kinda rushed I wrote it in an hour because I was really feeling the vibes.


End file.
